SO2: Sulfur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system, making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues and monuments. It causes acid rain. NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters. CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death. PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease.

2. Almost 95% of vultures in India have disappeared. They were said to have perished after consuming carcasses of cattle, which were tainted with Diclofenac, a pain-killer drug.

3. The Supreme Court ban on the use of antimony, lithium, mercury, arsenic and lead in the manufacture of firecrackers to prevent air pollution has turned the focus on what chemicals are used to produce spectacular visual effects and noise. Different colour produced in fire crackers: Yellow: Sodium salts (nitrates and oxalates) Blue: Copper salts (oxides and carbonate) Green: Barium salts (nitrates, carbonates, chlorides, chlorates) Purple: (combination of copper and strontium compound) White: burning of metals like magnesium, aluminium, titanium Orange: Calcium salts (Carbonate, chloride, sulfates) Red: Strontium salts (Nitrate, carbonate sulfates of strontium).

4. ASEAN celebrated its 50 years of association on 8th August 2017.

5. Jamat-ud-Dawa launched a political party named Milli Muslim League Party.

6. Hassan Rouhani has formally begun his second term as Iran’s President.

7. Justice Dipak Misra will be the 45th Chief Justice of India with effect from August 28.

8. Revocation of Article 35A is being considered by the Centre. Article 35 (A) ensures special privileges to the residents of J&K . Article 35A of the constitution empowers J&K legislature to define state’s “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges. It was added to the constitution through a presidential order of 1954 with the then J&K government’s concurrence. J&K joined India through instrument of accession signed by its ruler Hari Singh in October 1947.

Fear that it would lead to further erosion of J&K’s autonomy and trigger demographic change in Muslim majority valley. Political parties say Kashmir resolution lies in greater autonomy; separatists fan paranoia against possibility of Hindus ‘flooding’ the valley. However, in the last 70 years, demography of Kashmir Valley has remained unchanged even as Hindu majority in Jammu and Buddhists in Ladakh have rights to buy property and settle in the Valley.

9. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says it plans to launch a full-fledged niche earth observation (EO) satellite — called the Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite or HySIS — using a critical chip it has developed

13. SC on Right to Privacy is a Fundamental right emanating from Article 21 of right to life. It includes presentation of personal intimacies, sanctity of family life, marriage procreation, the home and sexual orientation. Privacy connotes a right to be left alone. It safeguards individual autonomy and recognize one’s ability to control one’s vital aspect of life. Privacy is not an absolute right but any invasion must be based on legality, need, and proportionality. Informational privacy is a facet of this right and dangers can be originated from state as well as non- state actors.
Government must put in place a robust regime for data protection. It must bring about a balance between individual interests and legitimate state concerns. Centre’s move to constitute a committee of experts led by former Supreme Court judge, Justice B.N. Srikrishna, on July 31, 2017 to identify “key data protection issues” and suggest a draft Data Protection Bill. The Office Memorandum of the Justice Srikrishna Committee notes that the “government is cognizant of the growing importance of data protection in India. The need to ensure growth of the digital economy while keeping personal data of citizens secure and protected is of utmost importance”. The judgment, declares privacy as a fundamental right, would finally reconcile Indian laws with the spirit of Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, which legally protects persons against the “arbitrary interference” with one’s privacy, family, home, correspondence, honour and reputation.